I received my Ground Effect catalogue today, and sure enough, there was the hoody, as promised last year.

Great to see a company responding to customer demand. Especially at this price.

http://www.groundeffect.co.nz/products.php

Okay, it's a 68% Merino 32% polyester blend. Fitted. 190g/m Long, but not full zip. No thumb loops though, and I'm not sure about the green colour, although I'm sure some of you will like it. The black is not bad though.

Cost is NZ$99 plus postage.

Please note that I have no connection to Ground Effect, apart from as a very satisfied customer. The only thing I don't like about their gear is that I can't seem to wear it out, in order to justify getting new stuff!

The black one looks awesome ... any weights on these?

It looked cool until I read the socialist political comments

I doubt that guerilla socialists could ever afford spending that much money on it ... lol ... Maybe we can rephrase it to make it more palatable to cold-war fans:
"Shove one of your many luxurious merino wool sweaters between the spokes of bike terrorists and laugh at their bloody faces ... hey it is not even cashmere!"

"Just the story for guerrilla socialists. Eat the rich."

The "socialist" comment is a play on the product's name (Robin Hood) and value. I don't think they're advocating insurrection...

99 NZD = 75 USD (xe.com), not bad at all. No thumbloops suck, but are doable. Deep zipper is nice.

All in all, a little nicer than the Nomad from Icebreaker, and less expensive than the now available Atlantis Hood (190 g/m, hooded, full zip, not sure of thumb loops... not sure if they don't have them or the model simply isn't using them. I know my Nomad has thumbloops even though the website doesn't mention them or show them... but the site shows the thumbloops of the Conquest Hood on 320g/m 2)

According to their web page 263 gm which in old money is 9 and a bit ozs.

Web address is
http://www.groundeffect.co.nz/product-detail-ROB-MER.htm

I will stay with my 10 oz power stretch WildThings Hoody. Yes it is alittle heavier and has no zip but it has the thumb loops, is well made, has a great fit, is durable and best of all is MADE IN THE USA.

I am pretty happy with my microgrid fleece Melanzana hoody

Looks nice, and I like the green option. However, I'm unsure of the merino/polyester blend. I've only used pure merino or pure polyester. What kind of experiences have people had with a blend? Does it gain the best of both fabrics (odor reduction and durability)?

Regarding other hoody options, I don't think the Icebreaker Atlantis has thumb loops. I didn't look too carefully since they didn't have anything in size small, so I didn't look carefully.

However, Icebreaker has 3 new hoodies in NZ now, and all three appear to have thumb loops. One is the Quantum (220 g/m2) and the other two are heavy weight options (340 g/m2). I hope they do a better job with the thumb loops than the Nomad. The sleeve seams come into the middle of the palm, so it makes it less comfortable to hold onto things.

I am interested in what BPL puts out for a hoody later this year. Ibex is also going to have something in fall (probably a hooded Shak at 390 g/m2).

I expect that I'll end up getting several of these options, but some might end up just as fashion items.

Robert,

You're saying you'd prefer true thumbloops (small loops of fabric) rather than the thumbholes that are normally called thumbloops?

I actually don't might the thumbholes on the Nomad as generally, if I'm needing to grip something enough that the fabric gets in the way I probably am active enough that I don't need the extra warmth.

Of course, it could also be that, even with low grippage needed items, the edging of the sleeve sits right in the seam of my thumb perfectly, so to me it actually feels kind of nice...

Edited by jdmitch on 04/11/2008 13:02:35 MDT.

Either thumb loops or thumb holes are OK as long as the seams don't come together in my palm. The Ibex Sidewinder shirt has thumb holes, but the seam comes on the outside of the thumb, so it doesn't interfere with my grip. I wish they could do something like that with the Nomad.

I have a Montane Terra T that is a similar merino wool, polyester mix. I have had great results with it. Regulates temperature, odor resistant, and very durable.

???

Okay, so I can see the upclose on the Sidewinder Long Sleeve Zip page... but I'm having a hard time remembering the difference between what I'm seeing and my nomad... I'll have to look closer when I get home.

Yeah, you can't trust those darn New Zealand pinkies. Who would have believed that they could up and ban nuclear powered warships from their waters? Even the good ones!! And now they have a female Prime Minister (president to non-Commonwealth readers)

It must be all that Possum fur going to their heads.

Or maybe it's a sense of humour. Who knows? THESE ARE designed by mountain bikers, and we all know how anachronistic they are. THESE guys even put money into building local MTB tracks.

Much better to buy from Icebreaker. At least they only have naked animal people on their website......or is that a sense of humour too. No wonder they blew off ANZUS. :>)

(PS I like that I can say BLOODY, but not d*amn. I had to change to darn)

Keep up the good posts.